“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light “ (Ephesians 5:8)

The Lord has been impressing upon us that we should use this newsletter to provide our readers with a closer look at the typical life of a man who passes through the doors of Shiloh.  We entertain many questions from people when they first become acquainted with this ministry such as: How do the men hear about Shiloh? Where do the men come from? What are their backgrounds?  How did they develop their dependencies?  How do we decide between which men we think we will be able to help and which ones we think we cannot?  What does a person do while they are here for a year? Do they have withdrawals?  How do we deal with the withdrawal issues?  When do we start to see change taking place? How do we know if a man is really over their addiction?  What kind of success rate does Shiloh have? Do the men work while they are here and what challenges do they encounter while they are here?  Do any of the men have wives and children? How does a man’s family react to their loved one being here?  What does the staff of Shiloh do? How is Shiloh funded? How do we feed such a group every day? In the hope of answering your questions and providing each of you with a window into a year in the life of a typical Shiloh student, we decided that for the next several months we will tell you about a fictional student from his start here through his graduation. In order to maintain student confidentiality, all of the names we use are fictional, but we will share many real life situations.

We named our hypothetical student Cecil because of the meaning of this name.  His name inherently means blind.  The Spiritual connotation of his name means Illuminated. The scripture reference to his name is Ephesians 5:8 NKJV. “For you were once in darkness, but now you are light in the Lord, Walk as children of light.”  Every man’s story with Shiloh is begat by fervent prayer that the Lord’s timing and intervention be upon his life.  When we determine we are going to have a new opening, we ask the Lord to prepare us for the next man he has designed to send us.  If we have learned anything in the past eight years, it is that we are completely dependent on the Lord’s governance and on his imparting of wisdom to us as we wait and trust in him to send us the next man.  The following is our story about how Cecil finds Shiloh and more importantly how he finds deliverance, salvation, and an eternal life in fellowship with the Lord:  

I, Rocky, just received a phone call from a man. He is crying and pleading for help. I promptly start asking him some questions.  I learn that his name is Cecil.  He is 36 years old from Portland, Oregon. He is presently in a hotel room, but soon will have no where to go and no resources. He has been addicted to crack/cocaine for nine years. He is a college graduate and has worked as a computer analyst.  He has been married and has two children. Due to his lifestyle, he recently lost his job, his bank account, his house, his wife, and his relationship with his children. He has been in and out of 3 different secular drug rehabs over this nine year addiction. The cost of the 3 combined programs has been enormous. They each lasted only a few months and he has spent about $65,000 on treatment and therapy.  He still has his addiction and has lost everything. He learned about Shiloh through a co-worker of his wife. The co-worker had a nephew that had been through Shiloh and is now living a fruitful life. The information about Shiloh had been given to him about four years ago.  He kept it, but did not really consider calling up a faith based group for help.  Now he is at the end of his rope and is pleading for help.

After obtaining basic information from Cecil, I begin a more probing interview with Cecil.  I have learned by watching countless men that all addictions are a form of bondage.  The Bible teaches us that bondage comes from the devil. Therefore, I know that in order to be effective in a battle against the devil, I must be led by the Spirit of God.  I have trained myself to listen to the individual but also to be keenly aware of the Holy Spirit’s presence. As I ask questions about Cecil’s life, I am acutely conscious to one of the keys that I have found reveals a man’s sincerity.  I am listening for a spirit of brokenness and of desperation for God’s intervention. I readily discern Cecil’s hopelessness. He is crying because he has lost everything. He knows that there is a God, but has no concept of His love. I begin to share with him how The Lord saved me delivered me from a life of addiction, and then transformed me into a man of God. In abject brokenness, Cecil responds by asking, “Could God love me and forgive me for the terrible things I have done?” “Yes,” I said. “Cecil, He knew you before you were ever born! God knew that today would be the day that you would surrender to His will. Would you like to be born again and experience His great love for you?” Cecil responds, “Yes, I need Him in my life. I cannot do this anymore on my own. My life has been a living hell.” At that point, I ask Cecil to repeat after me a prayer asking Jesus Christ to become Lord of his life. He repeats the prayer, “God forgive me for all of my sins. I believe you sent Your Son Jesus to die for my sins. I ask Jesus to come into my heart and live inside of me. Help me to live my life to bring You honor and glory. Deliver me from this torment I pray in Jesus Name.”

Cecil then asks if he may come to Shiloh.  I review the Shiloh guidelines that he must follow including agreeing to submit to me and my staff and making a one year commitment to stay.  I describe Shiloh as a spiritual boot camp.  I tell Cecil “It is not an easy school.  You will be living in tight community quarters with several other men from all over the USA.  Some leave because they are unwilling to die to their flesh. You will be taught the Word of God, and you will be expected to apply the Bible’s teachings to your life.”   I then ask him if he is on any prescription medications. He says he takes an anti-depressant for his depression. I inform him that he will not be permitted to take this medication and live at Shiloh. He hesitates and then asks, “How can I function without it?  I have been on it for two years.” My response is, “We have found that when we are not fulfilling God’s plan for our lives, we are empty so we often feel a need to medicate ourselves. God is the divine designer. Only He can restore us and give us purpose. If you come to Shiloh, you will have to trust God. Think this over. Pray about it. Call me in the morning if you truly want to be a student at Shiloh. The phone conversation ends.  Now we must wait.  We begin to steadfastly pray for Cecil’s life that is literally suspended in the balance between potential victory and sure defeat. 

Shiloh Ministry Team